International and Government Affairs

Making our mark on the aviation industry

Emirates continues to play an active role in public international aviation policy debates which have a key impact on the aviation industry.

We are confident that our position on competition, liberalisation and government financial intervention in aviation is strongly in the interest of consumers.

At the heart of our business model is a commitment to true international competition and open skies. We believe that an open global economy is vital to free and fair trade, economic growth and fuller employment.

The protection of a national carrier simply because it carries the flag of one particular country belongs to the past. Where governments protect flag carriers, competition is weak and these routes often have some of the highest fares in the world. We believe that market access is vital for exporters, passengers, airports and local economies. Robust competition lowers prices and allows more people to fly, and liberalised economies with open market access tend to show the strongest performance. Dubai is a long-term supporter of open skies with over 150 international airlines flying to its airport.

Similarly, Emirates does not belong to an alliance. We choose to chart our own future and have concerns about the anti-competitiveness of some traditional alliance arrangements. We have recently partnered with Qantas in a codeshare agreement, arranged in such a way to maximise benefits for our customers, create cost and network efficiencies for both airlines, and reinforce Dubai's standing as a global hub.

The environmental impact of aviation is an increasingly important topic of debate within international aviation policy, and an area that we devote a great deal of time to. We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and have taken important steps to become more sustainable and improve our environmental performance. We also believe governments must find a better balance between incentivising responsible corporate behaviour and motivating change, and avoid more punitive political and policy measures that financially weaken our industry and unfairly punish our customers.

Thank you for taking the time to consider our views on international aviation policy. You can find out more about the latest issues affecting the aviation industry in our journal, Open Sky.